The present invention concerns a novel phlebotomy needle assembly, and, more particularly, a phlebotomy needle assembly through which whole blood is drawn and mixed with an anticoagulant.
In certain applications such as in cell separation techniques, whole blood is collected from the vein of a donor via a cannula and the whole blood is mixed with an anticoagulant solution such as ACD in order to prevent clotting of the whole blood. The ACD-whole blood mixture is then transmitted to appropriate separation equipment, such as centrifugal equipment or the like.
One widely used prior art anticoagulant-whole blood mixing system includes the cannula having a hub which is coupled to one end of flexible tubing carrying a roller clamp, with the other end of the flexible tubing being coupled to the bottom of a y-connector. One arm of the y is coupled to an anti-coagulant solution inlet line and the other arm of the y is coupled to an outlet tube for transmitting the anticoagulant-whole blood mixture. While the flexible tube carrying the roller clamp which couples the cannula to the bottom of the y connector may be relatively short, the configuration of the y connector and its distance from the cannula render possible some coagulation of the whole blood which is, of course, extremely undesirable.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a phlebotomy needle assembly which allows mixing of an anticoagulant solution with the whole blood being withdrawn from the donor as close to the donor as possible.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a phlebotomy needle assembly that is simple in construction and easy to manufacture.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent as the description proceeds.